“The biggest difference between your top and bottom performing franchisees is the quality of their teams.”
I said this probably a dozen times at IFA in February, and every time the person I was talking to would kind of pause and nod.
It’s not because it’s some groundbreaking idea. Franchisors see it in system data and Franchise Business Coaches hear it when they visit locations. We all know it’s true: People are the biggest differentiator.
I think the pause was mostly coming from a place of unease because “the people” issue seems like a hard variable to measure and solve for. (It isn’t necessarily as hard as it seems and there are a ton of reasons why you should, which I’ll save for another post.)
A lot of you picked up my new book, The Franchise People Playbook, at IFA.The central argument is that franchisors have built world-class infrastructure around four of the five “P’s”: product, price, place, and promotion. Operators get a detailed playbook for all of it, but there is one P missing.
That’s the fifth P — ”people.” Just like those conference convos, it’s where most systems go quiet.
So what does it look like when a franchisee gets the fifth P right?
In my experience, it starts with hiring. The best franchisees recruit like they sell. Here are the questions I’d ask any operator to find out whether they’ve figured this out or still have work to do.
Do you know your candidate like you know your customer?
The best operators have a candidate profile the same way they have a customer profile. They’ve thought through exactly who thrives in their environment, so they’re not starting from zero when it’s time to hire because they already know who they’re looking for.
Can you answer: “Why should I work here?”
To win on hiring, you have to think about the employee value proposition the same way you do the customer value proposition. What does it actually feel like to work here? What can someone build towards? Why would a person with options choose this location over the one down the street?
How easy (or hard) is it to apply?
Most job applicants start their job search online. A clunky form that requires a resume upload for a frontline role is the hiring equivalent of faxing a customer their receipt. Applying needs to be frictionless — short, mobile-friendly, no unnecessary steps. Candidates have options and they’ll abandon the process if it’s cumbersome.
Is your lack of process losing leads?
You would never ignore a customer when they walk in the door. Remember that candidates are off the market fast and are often applying to many jobs at once, so you have to be ready to move. Get systems in place — prescreen questions that filter applicants automatically, text recruiting that gets a response out same day — so operators are talking with right people before a competitor does.
Are you building a relationship or filling a shift?
Candidates can tell the difference between an operator who sees them as a warm body and one who sees them as someone worth investing in. The tone is set with onboarding so it’s crucial to get those first 90 days right.
Are you getting referrals?
Loyal customers refer new customers. Engaged employees refer good candidates. In high-staffing franchise environments, word travels fast about which locations are good to work at. Retention is a growth strategy. A tenured employee performs better. And a happy employee telling their friends “this is a good place to work” is worth more than any job board posting.
More next week,
Clint
P.S. The Franchise People Playbook lays out the building blocks in a format you can use yourself and share with your franchisees. It’s free to download here.